THE CENTRAL VOICE. January 2016

Transcription

1 THE CENTRAL VOICE 2016

2 2 INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Pastor s Pen 3 Editorial 5 Why Multisite 6 Engage 9 Church Finances 10 Weekly Sermons 11 Church Calendar 12 A Doctor s Work Reaffirmed 14 Book Review 16 Jubilee rs 17 Romanian Update 18 Pictures from Romania 20 Twelve Smooth Stones 21 News from the Christian World 22 Central Kid s Ministry 23 Church Staff 24 THE CENTRAL VOICE is also available on Central s website: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Central Baptist Church, its staff, officers, members, the Alberta Baptist Association or the North American Baptists Inc. (Canada) THE CENTRAL VOICE

3 FROM THE PASTOR S PEN - PASTOR JEREMY 3 The new year is a natural time to take a fresh look at one s priorities. A couple of years ago, our leadership went through a lengthy process of seeking to identify God s key priorities for our church in the season ahead. it involved significant times of prayer, discussion together, and reaching out to dozens of people throughout the life of Central for feedback. Clearly there are some things about being a church that never change: seeking to grow in love for God and others, increasing our knowledge and love for the word of God, reaching out to people with the hope of Jesus, developing and valuing strong community with other believers, caring and serving practically in our city and world, and so many more. But it felt important for us to ask Jesus for a pinpoint focus on the areas that he wants us to specifically press into and develop. These are the priorities that have developed and are continuing to grow in our church To practically help people of all ages grow a deep relationship with God. Of course we should always be committed to this, but we feel called to find ever more practical ways to help each other towards these things. Continuing to value and strengthen key age group ministries is a part of this priority, such as specifically growing in our ability to minister to kids, students, young adults, singles, families and seniors. As well, we have been growing practical pathways for the whole church including prayer nights, the Spiritual Core retreat and HUB gatherings. In all of this, our goal is to make the path clear for any who would want to grow deeper with God. To inspire, empower and network people to serve those with needs in our city and world. Cory has helped develop our framework for this priority around the ideas of places, partnerships and passions. Places means paying attention to where we already are and seeking to be Jesus light in those places. Partnerships means recognizing that many of the things we desire to do for Jesus are already being done well by other organizations, and choosing to join and support them in what they re doing. Passions means allowing God to grow up Kingdom entrepreneurs among us who have the desire and gifting to start something new and bring others along. Things like Echelon, the Edmonton Exposure retreat, the Salt and Light banquet, Conversation Cafe, the 20+ families working on welcoming refugees, and growing partnerships

4 4 with organizations such as the Tegler Centre and the Neighbour Centre are examples of the heart of this priority. To strengthen and advance our multisite efforts. The three pieces of this third priority are (1) establishing our Southeast site in a permanent facility, (2) growing as a church to understand what multisite really is and why we re doing it, and (3) considering if/when and how we would know when the time is right to launch a third site. Right now a whole lot of our attention has been on the first of these, and we are working hard to see if there could be a facility or a piece of land with potential. Any viable opportunities that arise will be brought to the congregation for consideration and ultimately a vote if we are desiring to move forward. As well, we are in the process of developing a video and some literature to more fully explain the reasons we ve headed in this direction as a church. These priorities all excite me, and it s been a joy to see them begin progressing as we ve sunk our teeth in over the past years. I believe God is growing us to be a church of prayer, not just a church with prayer. I believe he s growing us to be people who see ourselves as called by God and sent by God to shine his light into this city and beyond in the name of Jesus. And I believe God continually desires to multiply the seeds that he is growing among us. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to follow Jesus together with each of you, and I look forward to what God has in store for the days ahead. Pastor Jeremy THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH Instead of making a New Year s Resolution, consider committing to a Biblical solution Mary Fairchild THE CENTRAL VOICE

5 5 EDITORIAL In the days and weeks before Christmas representative of over 200 areas of the world met in Paris. More than compete for the World Cup of Soccer; more than vie for Olympic medals; more than are represented at the United Nations; more indeed than the total of the recognized countries of the world. Their avowed intent was to change direction the world climate is taking. Obama declared that it was the last chance to save the world. The official communiqué came out some time later amid all sorts of brouhaha with much high sounding language which may or may not have any effect on the way nations act to use or abuse the environment. The cynic in me compared it to King Canute, that Anglo-Saxon monarch who ruled western Europe a thousand years ago and was enticed by his courtiers to set up shop at the edge of the ocean and command the tide not to come in - with predictable results. More seriously, I was confronted by the irony of these leaders attempting to save the world so close to the time when millions across the world celebrate the coming of the One Who really did come to save the world. For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life John 3:16 As environmentalists celebrate a piece of paper that really only amounts to an agreement to agree, God s plan is a real world changer. A plan that was set from the beginning of the world to save man from himself and the Evil One. A plan to provide eternal life for all who believe. A plan that has set in motion more humanitarian efforts, more concern for his fellow man and woman than any other throughout history. While we may see if this Paris agreement will be kept in the short term, few, if any, of us will be around to see if it will really be effective. Will the future reveal this to be a world changing event or a laughable exercise in futility? Time will tell, but none of us will live long enough to know - at least on the earth the authors are so keen to preserve. As we enter a New Year, rather than depending on man s intention to change his surroundings, we would do well to consider God s plan of change and accept His offer. Iain Hunter

6 6 What does multisite mean? WHY MULTISITE? In the early 2000 s Central experienced a season of significant growth that brought our Connors Hill facility to its capacity for Sunday morning services. At that time our church worked through a process to decide how to manage the higher numbers of people who were participating in the life of Central. Through over a decade of praying, talking, thinking, trying, and retrying, we increasingly have felt led to adopt a multisite strategy in order to steward our growth and extend God s Kingdom. We believe it is a practical way to move on mission in this city, deepen relationships, and manage growth. Multisite refers to the idea of one church existing in multiple sites. It means one local church with one vision, one board, one budget and one staff team that gathers for worship and other ministries in a growing number of locations. From Central was a type of multisite church. During these years we held two Sunday worship services upstairs in the sanctuary concurrent with two satellite services in the gym. In 2012 we launched a true second site at a different location in southeast Edmonton. Why do we choose to pursue multisite as a key strategy? 1. Multisite keeps our focus on the Great Commission and multiplication. Multisite is missional at its core, starting with the recognition that healthy things grow! Throughout Jesus teaching we see that multiplication is a Kingdom reality. When Jesus is around, things multiply. Pursuing a multisite strategy pushes us to expect and pursue growth, not for our own glory, but for God s. It keeps our focus as a church not just on who we are but also on who we are becoming. 2. Multisite is an effective way of moving past facility limitations. If a church grows there are at least three things it could do: (1) build a bigger building, (2) plant a new church, or (3) start a new congregation (multisite). Each choice allows a church to continue to welcome more people into its ministry, and at different times Central has done all three. We believe that multisite is not only a valid option but also the best option for us to pursue at this time. THE CENTRAL VOICE

7 3. Multisite has some key advantages to traditional church-planting. The key difference between multisite and traditional church-planting is that a planted multisite congregation maintains a vital, life-giving connection with the mother church, and this makes a huge difference in the potential for success. In North America, 80% of traditional church plants fail within the first 5 years, while 80% of multisite church-plants are still thriving at the end of 5 years. Research shows that this is due to the incredible amount of effort and emotional commitment that is required to birth a new church and the strength of sharing this burden more fully with a mother church, especially in the early years. 4. Multisite honours and continues Central s legacy. Since its beginning in 1900, Central has planted over a dozen churches throughout the city. Multisite carries on this legacy in a refreshed and effective way and continues to value the ultimate goals of welcoming new people and birthing new congregations. 5. Multisite helps to maintain the goal of growing deep relationships with other believers. Many churches seek to increase the size of their building as their congregations grow. While this allows everyone to continue to gather in the same place, we believe it also can make it more difficult to experience warm, deep relationships. Multisite allows for continued growth while maintaining more reasonably sized worship gatherings where people have a greater chance of deeply knowing and being known by others. We ve often said our goal is not too big, not too small. It s great to have a community that s big enough to be able to do things well, especially ministries like worship and kids which can be difficult with too few people. But it s also ideal to keep the gathering from becoming so big that it s difficult to know others and be known. 6. Multisite allows for long-term neighbourhood relationships. We believe the places that God provides for our buildings are important to him. Especially for older, more land-locked neighbourhoods, often the only way to build a larger facility is to move. Although we are a regional church with people coming from many different parts of the Edmonton area, many are increasingly desiring to participate in a church that is closer to home with the good goal of becoming more meaningfully involved in life in and around their neighbourhood. Multisite allows us to grow more connected to a neighbourhood without feeling that we need to leave if we get too big. Relationships take time, and multisite lets us take the long view and seek to really know and serve 7

8 8 our neighbours. Yet as the congregation grows, multisite continually offers the release valve opportunity" of launching new congregations in different locations. We believe this honours the place where God has planted us, gives us increased opportunities with our neighbours, and simultaneously allows God to call out and commission people to start new things in other places. 7. Multisite continually provides room to welcome new people. Multisite keeps us in a place where we always can handle growth. When a group of people exit a congregation to start something new, it provides room for new people. There are always more places to meet which means there is always room for the next person. It also has the potential for more organic, exponential growth. Living cells don t just grow...they divide. One becomes two, two become four, and four become eight. This truly takes us past addition towards the potential for multiplication. A Final Note. Despite the advantages that we see with the multisite model, we can t forget that starting new congregations is tough work. Inheriting a farm is a whole lot easier than clearing new land and starting from scratch. We believe it s wonderful when a new church is born, but we know birth is still painful and babies take a lot of work, especially when they re young. While we believe multisite is the right approach for our church, we have no expectation that it will be easy or that success is guaranteed. Already in the first decade of our work in this area we have experienced seasons of difficulty for a variety of reasons. In particular, the movement of people between congregations, while fruitful, can be relationally difficult as people find themselves no longer worshipping together with some people they have grown to love. However, we also believe it s worth it. We have been called by Jesus to continually have eyes for the next person, to include others, and to share Jesus life and salvation with the nations. We know that things that are painful can be beautifully life-giving if they result from following God s leading. Multisite is a strategic, structured approach that builds the potential for multiplication (and the need to keep talking about it) right into the life and structure of our church. It is a practical way to move on mission in this city, deepen relationships, and manage growth. Jeremy Putz THE CENTRAL VOICE

9 ENGAGE 9 During , our Central church family spent an entire year focusing upon themes like Blessed to be a blessing and Moving beyond ourselves. It is evident that these themes are taking root among us and gaining tangible expression in the lives of members of this church family. I frequently am encouraged and inspired by all of the ways in which faithful people from within our congregation are striving to make a difference in the lives of others. I would like to highlight just a couple of these briefly here. Recently, our 10:28 seniors group completed its goal of raising $1,500 to help our friends at the Tegler Centre purchase 50 Adventure Bibles. These Bibles will be available to kids who participate in Tegler s programs. They are written at a level that kids can understand and are durable enough to last a long time. It has been exciting to watch our 10:28 group tackle this goal with enthusiasm and accomplish it in a remarkably short amount of time. On top of this, families from within our Central Kids Ministry have donated toys and monetary gifts to help support Tegler s annual toy drive. This program enables parents who are struggling financially, and who might not otherwise be able to afford Christmas gifts for their children, experience the joy of watching their children open presents on Christmas morning. Beyond these two initiatives, our Central family has been coming alongside the Tegler Centre in a few other meaningful ways in recent times. As a result, Tegler s leadership is feeling blessed and encouraged by the care and generosity our church family has been showing toward their work. In addition, Genesis, a refugee resettlement group made up of friends and families from within Central, has been working diligently in recent times to get organized and to begin raising the funds needed to sponsor a refugee family. As I write this article, more than 32 households have stepped forward to participate in this initiative. Many have expressed a desire to contribute with their finances or household goods. A number are also eager to give of their time and expertise to assist a refugee family in establishing a new life in Edmonton. Significant numbers of people from across the life of our church seem to view this as a moment in history that calls upon us to demonstrate the love and hospitality of Christ toward our vulnerable neighbours within the global community. It has been quite inspirational to see the good efforts that this group is making and to watch growing numbers of people being drawn to this cause. As we journey together into 2016, we will be invited into a number of new and exciting opportunities to join in what God is doing in our community. God is prompting our church family to take some intentional, bold steps of faithfulness to His call this year. We look forward to sharing

10 10 more about opportunities that we know about in the weeks and months ahead, as well as to discovering the unexpected ones that the Lord has in store for us will afford us some amazing opportunities to continue blessing others and moving beyond ourselves. I anticipate the privilege it will be to watch God work through this church family throughout the year ahead. Pastor Cory CHURCH FINANCES Our giving continues to be strong, being up 6% over last year, but our expenses are also up, much higher than our giving, leaving us with a deficit of $64K. The reason our expenses are high is the quarterly disbursement of our Missions support, the expense of the building assessment for potential development and the cost of the external review of the 2014/15 annual Financial Statements. We trust the giving in December, which is normally above average will have repeated the past pattern and brought us into a balanced position. THE CENTRAL VOICE

11 11 SUNDAY SERMONS Jan 3 Intimacy with Jesus John 10:1-18 & Phil. 3:10-18 Jan 10 Scripture & Theology 2 Tim. 3:14-17 Jan 17 Discernment & Obedience John 15:1-17 & Rom. 12:1-2 Jan 24 Corporate Worship Col. 3:15-17 Jan 31 Church Community Acts 2 & Heb. 10:23-25 Join us at 9:00 am for hymn singing on January 10 & 24

12 12 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 New Years Day Office Closed Connors Hill 9:15 & 11:15am Southeast 10:15am 10:28 Seniors 9am - LIFT 9:30am English Conversation Café 7pm Youth Connors Hill 9:15 & 11:15am Southeast 10:15am 9am White Cross 10:28 Seniors 9am - LIFT 7pm Youth 9:30am English Conversation Café Connors Hill 9:15 & 11:15am Southeast 10:15am 1:30pm CKM Vision & Training Connors Hill 9:15 & 11:15am Southeast 10:15am am White Cross 7pm Join the Church Class 10:28 Seniors 9am LIFT 6:30pm CKM Vision & Training 10:30amWordsmiths 7pm Youth 9:30am English Conversation Café Salt & Light Banquet am White Cross 10:28 Seniors 9am - LIFT 9:30am English Conversation Café Connors Hill 9:15 & 11:15am Southeast 10:15am 31 7pm Join the Church Class 7pm Youth THE CENTRAL VOICE

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14 14 A DOCTOR S WORK REAFFIRMED Biases and prejudices we hardly recognize them in ourselves. How refreshing it is when we finally do see them and learn to deal with them. On a 6 week journey this fall of 2015 taking us through the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and Papua New Guinea (PNG), my friend Dr. Bill Bieber and I daily praised God for what could be seen as spontaneous encounters and unexplained new spirits of co-operation in so many of the people we met. We were not prepared for this cooperation as our expectations had been muted even soured after several years of struggling with stagnation and people bound up in ancient traditions missing the freedom in the Gospel. Our mission was driven by a new awareness of our own vulnerability here in Alberta. In the past few years Albertans were struck by floods and forest fires revealing our personal and community vulnerability. We were aware that nearly half of all the world s natural disasters with more than 60% of the world s deaths each year occur in Asia. There were many reasons for this, but in all cases here in Canada and there in Asia preparation and appropriate action could have saved lives and lessened so much misery. The strategy we use is Community Health Evangelism (or Education), CHE, has been designed to help communities mature holistically, developing a resilience that could help after whatever disaster befalls a community. When we began our trip we hoped we could attract some Asian doctors to join us in training others in CHE and so set out to be the catalysts or advocates for resilient Community Health Evangelism in Philippines and Papua New Guinea. After all, we were experienced in development medicine, mature (read senior ) and were committed to serve. Several doctors and scientists from the Christian community joined us in an excited conversation about the possibilities. We were encouraged then and now as we follow up with them for future plans. Each day in each of the countries we visited it was God that transformed coincidences and casual encounters into opportunities to reach more leaders and their communities with God s hope. For example, on one day while walking to a local market Bill encountered the Provincial Disaster Preparedness Manager who the day before had decided to give up trying to make a disaster mitigation plan his work up to that point had so little effect. Bill encouraged him that not all was lost. We had just finished a training workshop on a CHE disaster preparation module for a nation-wide THE CENTRAL VOICE 2000 died in this Philippine Village damaged in 2013 Cyclone

15 group of CHE practitioners called the EDEN Consultation. Gathering local provincial members from that EDEN group and working the whole weekend, Bill and that local group of Christ following CHE leaders produced a viable Provincial Disaster Preparedness plan for that was presented to the Provincial Manager that Monday afternoon a way forward for the province. It was implemented that day. This was not only timely but necessary as there is a continuing drought in PNG claiming many lives in the past few months. In the early years of our mission in PNG we could not have imagined marshaling the experience and skill of so many Papua New Guineans. Where did they come from? God had similar surprises for me on Manus Island. I was travelling with the Christian Health Services National Health Promotions Officer, Nickson Samblat, to introduce him to our church friends and the Manus Island Provincial Health Promotions Officer who earlier we had trained in CHE. We had heard very little about the CHE activity in Manus for about a year. So we were surprised by the enthusiastic reception we received by Church leaders and Government Health Department workers. After a presentation about CHE by Mr. Samblat to the Provincial Health Promotions Officer the only comment and question were We have trained in the past year all the Health Centres around our province. One village has responded to CHE so well that we want to acknowledge their accomplishment but don t know how. How can we do that? Nickson and I were both thunderstruck at the depth of CHE activity that had been carried on by these passionate Christ followers in the provincial government; we could only respond by developing follow-up training to polish this gem of CHE work. After 6 weeks of continual blessings by so many of God s people not just in PNG but in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore, I felt the opportunities God had orchestrated for us were almost too much. As well I felt humbled by the number and quality of fellow believers we can partner with in countries I had earlier thought could never have produced such Christ honouring people. Only with these partners can the work be done. What can we do but be expectantly available to respond to who and what He will place before us. So many at Central have followed and supported the CHE work in PNG and Community leader in a CHE disaster planning session 15 elsewhere. If you wish to learn more please contact me. Thank you. Dr. John Taylor

16 16 BOOK REVIEW Seven Realities for Experiencing God Henry & Richard Blackaby Lifeway Christian Resources This book has what seems to be a small amount of reading and questions for 5 days and then a Group Session. There are 7 Realities instead of principles to follow. Pastor Blackaby said in the Skype interview with Pastor Jeremy Nov. 24 that he and his dad, Henry, didn t want to suggest there were principles or a list of things to do in order to know and experience God. He said several times that we are choosing to get to know the person of Jesus and that we choose to do things that help us know who He is and His character; we don t enter a program. These 7 Realities covered in the book are: God s Work Relationship Invitation God Speaks Crisis of Belief Adjust Obey and Experience For each reality, there are 5 daily readings with 6-7 questions with each reading. Some of the questions are personal but all are quite thoughtprovoking, I think. For example, in the Reality 4: God Speaks, here are 5 daily reading topics: God Speaks in Many Powerful Ways: Question 1 When was the most recent time you were in awe of God s speaking to you? Question 2 How have you trusted in methods rather than in a Person, expecting God to speak only in certain ways? The Bible: Question 1 What was the most recent matter you felt convicted about when reading the Bible? Question 2 How do you respond to that discomfort? Prayer: Question 1 What answers to prayer have you experienced? Question 2 When have you been aware of God s changing you through prayer? THE CENTRAL VOICE

17 Circumstances: Question 1 When has God radically changed the direction of your life through a seemingly ordinary circumstance? Question 2 What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today? If God Seems Silent: Question 1 What was the most recent thing God revealed to you? Question 2 How did you respond to God s direction? Next there is a page titled How Am I Experiencing God? and the request to journal about your experience. At the end of these 5 daily readings and questions, the Group Session builds on the previous days with reading Scripture. There are questions to answer that take the personal type review into Scripture to discover what God says about Himself and then an opportunity to share your answers from the 5 days of reading & questions. The Group Session also uses further questions to encourage sharing of Experiencing God Stories from your week of experiencing God in a practical kind of way. As you can tell from my exuberant description, this book really excites me with the possibility of each one of us learning to grow deeper in experiencing God in our lives. We have studied about God in the past but I think this study takes on a different focus in opening our eyes to how He speaks to us and to practice looking at ourselves and our surroundings more and more with God s eyes. You can read more about Henry & Richard Blackaby s books and ministries online at blackaby.net. Sue Patrsyk JUBILEE RS January 22, :00 am at Taylor Seminary Come and enjoy a Choral Programme Tickets available from Laura Laube * * * * * * * January 17, :00 pm Hymn Sing Hillview Baptist Church 17

18 18 ROMANIAN UPDATE As I sit here and write this I cannot help but think about how blessed we continually are by God s faithfulness, provision and guidance. I look back over this past year and see the way in which God so graciously and faithfully opened up the doors for us to serve him and see the way He continues to build His Kingdom here in Romania. I am reminded of the 14 villages we ran Vacation Bible School programs in, the youth and children we shared the gospel with, the Camp Falcon Rock board and leadership team being established, and the ongoing work developing the drawings, applying for permits and fundraising for the camp. Not to mention the team of 52 from Central who raised over $50, to renovate the existing building which has sped up the process to when we will be allowed to open up the doors of Camp Falcon Rock. Even thinking about just this past month, we were able to host a couple from Canada (Vern & Gloria Wagner) who God has called to work alongside of us for a week and help prepare for fundraising and their eventual move over here in We also traveled to the city of Oradea to share the gospel with over 200 young people and further yet, as I sit here in our home, I am surrounded by the sounds of our village youth who learn English from Tanya as she is hosting a Christmas party for them and teaching them the real meaning of Christmas. Thinking about such things leads me to the conclusion that these opportunities, these blessings, this ministry is God s and God s alone. In the book of Ephesians the Apostle Paul finishes his famous prayer in chapter 3 by saying, now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Throughout this year these words have been on our mouths frequently. As our boiler exploded and I was graciously saved from the damage we declared to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine As we were able to host 4 different ministry teams from North America we declared to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine THE CENTRAL VOICE

19 As we saw 4 of our young people in our village commit their lives to Christ and decide to be baptized we declared to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine As we ran a 2 day VBSs in new villages and the churches and even saw one continue with 3 more days of programming after we left we declared, to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine As we saw the completion of the work that Central did on the existing building we declared to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine And as we ve seen an enormous community form around us, the ministry and the camp, which has been a powerful support to the fruit produced this past year we declared, to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine And so as we prepare ourselves for a new year, filled with new possibilities, opportunities and fears, it would be easy for us to become overwhelmed. We know 2016 will be a big year. It will be a year where we continue to apply for permits, a year where we continue to run children's and youth camps, a year of building and development, a year where our camp team will grow and a year where we are stepping into a large capital campaign which we pray God will provide the funds for the phase 1 development of Camp Falcon Rock. If you want to check out our website to see what exactly we plan to build next and the funds we are looking at raising you will see that our vision and goal is big but our faith in God s vision, provision and timing is greater. This past summer while running children s programs in a neighbouring village I invited a young guy I had been building a relationship with over the past couple months to come and translate for us. He came along and translated for the day. It was great to see him serve, to see him spend time with the children, and to see him work alongside of us. What I didn t know is that he gave his life to Christ on that day. He shared his testimony as he was baptized this past fall and said that despite growing up in the Church, it wasn t until he saw these children respond that he desired the same in his life. It is testimonies like this one that continues to encourage us to move ahead, raise funds, apply for permits, run camps and ultimately see Camp Falcon Rock developed so we can hear thousands of these testimonies. And so it may be easy to be overwhelmed stepping into 2106, it may seem like too big a vision some days, but remember to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generation, for ever and ever! Amen. 19 Paul & Tanya Gericke

20 20 PICTURES FROM ROMANIA THE CENTRAL VOICE

21 21 CENTRAL NEWS Stories from the experiences of the members and friends of Central Baptist Church Available from the Church Office $15 each or 2 for $20

22 22 NEWS FROM THE CHRISTIAN WORLD The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has announced that, for the first time in over 20 years they are establishing a new stake in Calgary. A stake is made up of 3,000 to 5,000 members in 5 to 10 Churches. - CNN News Service North Korea has condemned Canadian Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to a life sentence with hard labour for crimes against the state. He has travelled over 100 times to the country with humanitarian aid over the past 20 years. Prime Minister Trudeau has expressed grave concern over the sentence, but notes that Canada has no diplomatic relations with the country. - CBC The South Asian Bible Commentary has been released - a one volume commentary on the whole Bible aimed at the cultures of South Asia. One of its lead editors is a Canadian - Isobel Stevenson and other editorial staff also come from this country. - Christian Week The B.C Supreme Court has reinstated Trinity College s Law School s right to accreditation with the Law Society - Christian Week A Mississippi County Courthouse refused to take down a nativity scene despite a complaint from American Humanist Association. - Breaking Christian News When Wadena, Minnesota removed its city nativity scene due to a complaint, outraged citizens blanketed the town with nativity scenes. - Breaking Christian News A Tennesee professor claims C.S. Lewis, on behalf of the British Intelligence MI6 made a recording to the Icelandic people in support of the British invasion during World War II - Charisma News THE CENTRAL VOICE

23 23 CHILDREN S ACTIVITY PAGE The Prodigal Son Returns - A Picture to Colour

24 CHURCH STAFF Ministry Staff Jeremy Putz Lead Pastor Iain McAuliffe Executive Pastor Cory Seibel Point Pastor - Connors Hill Jud Stade Pastor to 0-25 Year-olds Jon Putz Point Pastor - Southeast Larry Froese Seniors and Visitation Pastor Levi Nigh Students and Young Adults Pastor Logan Henry Community Life Coordinator Sarah Price Kids Ministry Coordinator - Connors Hill Brittany Santos Kids Ministry Coordinator - Connors Hill Aaron Parker Worship Coordinator - Connors Hill Zack Barker Worship Coordinator - Southeast Alissa Sanders Kids Ministries Coordinator - Southeast Support Staff Brianne Schultz Andrea Oosterhof Dave Patrsyk Rose Lubek Office Administrator Custodian Maintenance Accounts Administrator Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6C 4K Mill Woods Road, Edmonton, Alberta T6K 1Y7 Telephone: (780) Central Baptist Church is an autonomous organization based on Scripture and traditional Baptist principles. It is affiliated with the Alberta Baptist Association and the North American Baptists Inc. (Canada) We worship at the two locations shown above